The Two Months to Mains – Planning Days Ahead

The time of the year, when you are caught between the heat of summer, the wet of the monsoons, and the chill of the winter. ( Its coming ).

It feels much like the adolescence – the unknown vacuum between childhood, and adulthood, being neither, and yet being both. At the same time.

And it is also the time, when you are as close to giving up, as you are to success.

You just don’t know it yet.

So, as the Mains approaches, not the most hardworking, nor the man who made it to the list last year, but the fittest will survive.

And here is how to survive.

Or Perhaps win.

#1 Brace the chaos.

This is the time of the year, when your plate is full. You have your optional to cover – unless it is your third mains ( in which case, your optional should be covered ). You have GS Paper 4 almost untouched. Or GS 1 is still not rock solid. On top of it, you are missing the Test Series you paid for.

Worse still, you kept postponing joining a Test Series thinking you will do the whole syllabus, and then write the perfect Tests and top the Mock Tests.

It is also one of those times, when you feel like you are no longer in control of your life. The days end before they begin. Sometimes, today and tomorrow seem to run ( and get over ) in parallel!

So, if you are facing any of it ( alright, even a part of it ), my advice to you – Brace the chaos.

Its egalitarian. Its classless. And Its happening to everyone.

I should know. Some of the people I work with, serve in the IPS and IRS, and are writing the exam, and I know what they are going through. I often take 2AM calls.

( The last guy who called me at 2AM was worried about getting IFS, and not being able to write the exam again. See the irony ? )

So realize that the semi hell of chaos that you are going through is normal.

#2. But it isn’t normal. I am jittery. Confused. And feel like giving up.

Then you must draw a new normal.

Lets face it. You have signed up for the Nation’s most competitive exams. Some of the people I work with ( a euphemism for student, and the term makes me feel a lot older than I am ) are former Investment Bankers, some sons of Anganwadi workers, and some do part time jobs to sustain their studies.

And I can tell you that the ability to withstand strain ( and stress ) will define who the winner is. Frankly, I do not know who will win.

So unless you accept to live with the levels of stress you may be going through – and make peace with it, you will keep fighting your own biology.[1]

And you can’t win that way. So accept the current levels of your existence and keep going. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

#3. Do things tangible. Make own notes.

The bad things about good things is that they are difficult to begin. And form a part of habit. So in the next 20 days –

Pick up the static parts of the syllabus that you do not know

Get A4 size sheets, and google “term/topic + PDF”

Make your own damn notes. Not on evernote. Not on Onenote. On a white sheet of paper.

And fill pages.

Because when you write on paper, you write on your mind.

They also have a therapeutic effect. They give you a sense of accomplishment. Every day.

And accomplishing small things every single day, is the key to achieving bigger things eventually.

Its like Mohhamad Ali practising at 3AM in private. To win a match, accolades ( and hearts ) the next day in public.

We are always rewarded in public for the work we put in private.

So there is glory at the end of the hell-hole. I can promise you that.

# 4. Make Groups of 3. The second secret ingredient.

We are the average of five people we most interact with. So you better have a good group. That is writing Mains 2017. And here are the three rules of group forming

Firstly, do not be the most intelligent or smartest in your group.

Secondly, make sure you do no live in the same flat. Flatmates are not the best people to do group studies with.

Thirdly, groups should not have friends. Strangers, with the same mission as you, work best.[2]

So every morning, set an agenda, or a set of Mains Marathon questions. Or Insights. And ask everyone to submit 1 page / 2 page notes answers by evening.

That way, for every topic.

And soon, you will have enough high quality notes that will see you through the Mains 2017.

#5 Have faith in yourself.

And that, my dear, is the most important secret ingredient. The difference between the man who will make it and the man who will not is a lot about faith.

The same books, same effort, same number of hours. And even same coaching classes/library/whatever. But different levels of faith.

Trust your mentor – who can be a human, or a non -human ( such as a strategy, or study plan that you plan to abide by )

The thing about UPSC aspirants, when they write the exam is that on the surface, it looks as if nothing is happening inside of us, even though we are going through a lot of turmoil.

Its only when someone has gone through the grind, that one can figure out the churning inside. Others will never understand.

So don’t expect anyone at home, friends or family to understand your emotions right now.

So, have faith, you only have two months – which is time enough to change the world. Change your future, and your destiny.

Do whatever it takes. Work on Ethics, Post Independent History or even Second ARC Reports. Take handwriting classes if you are slow, or ugly.

But more importantly, be patient with the outcomes.

At the end of the Mains examination, you should meet me and tell me – I did the best I could. And I will perhaps buy you coffee.

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Popeye

Thank you sir…. your post motivated me. I was unable to sleep right now…. heart was pulsating at high speed… but then your post has given me hope….motivation and made me realised that i can change my life in two months. Putting effort is in my hand amd rest is destiny….

Sir i need to talk to you.. mgp roll no 2632…

Neyawn

Drop me an email 🙂

DD

Thank you SO MUCH. I was just going to pick up my notes and this article has motivated me to pick up much more than I otherwise would’ve picked! Absolutely inspiring…need of the hour!

Neyawn

Glad it helped 🙂

pritam

@Neyawn:disqus sir…thanks a lot for this message. There couldn’t have been more opportune time for this than now. I wanted to seek one help/advice from your side on recently launched 3-year action agenda of NITI Aayog. How to get a slim summary of this relevant for coming mains? Is forumIAS planning to give a summary on this like for economic survey which was very helpful?

Thanks

Neyawn

Let me see what I can do.

Neyawn

Honestly , just browse through the 3 year plan. Do chapter on agriculture . Let me know how it feels.

It is not that time taking or difficult. All you will need to go is give three hours.

AGAINST_ALL_ODDS

Bingo! Was much needed. Thanks.

Neyawn

🙂

Wegner

Wow such a timely article. Would have considered this almost providential, but then your articles have been a saviour at all such junctures in the past too, so credit goes to you 🙂 Totally totally agree with the writing point – a big determinant in boosting faith and confidence. Thanks. God bless you!

Neyawn

Thank you for taking the time to read it. God bless us all, but especially the ones facing exam this year. 🙂

You We Can

Don’t know why,I got my eyes watered at last. I could not study anything from last 2 days,the first full para of yours defines me,mright now. But all I can is, it was the MOST NEEDED article(and perfaps the best one) for me. I think,tonight’s sitting may last tommorow’s morning.:P Thankyou Newayn Sir,and I will try my best to buy you a coffee.

sa1991

Thanks a lot neyawan sir. Was feeling a bit low since last couple of days. This post really pumped me up 🙂

meera j

When the Countdown and Panic starts the catwalk…..You close the book.Close your eyes.Breathe hard. Breathe slow. Feverently think on why you started this.Fail miserably. Existential crisis sweep in. Dwell upon other such privilege. Feel guilty on the time wasted. Repeat cycle. And then this happens ! Thank you. Head bowed.Hand on the heart. Again.

You We Can

Summed up everything. 🙂

Neyawn

Thank you. You should be writing stuff too. Once the Mains gets over 🙂

Tarun Bansal

A much needed article when everything seems to be in chaos.. It is like searching for oasis in desert and you get one..Thanks sir ” Time to double up efforts and keep going” 🙂

Panda

Much needed article.exact my condition of mains prep. Thnx .

Glory

Thank you. You always know what we are exactly going through.Hats off.

Sumit Tyagi

I was really in the need of this push factor which you just provided…was going through myriad possibilities and nothing seemed to work…thankyou so much…more power to us..✌

Neyawn

Yay! 🙂

Sara

Sir each and every word of yours is so motivating. thank you so much. I have seen various motivational posts but that’s seriously reflecting my story.

Again thanx sir .

Goms

I couldn’t download this file sir . Plz help me. Thanks for sending this valuable mail

Your post was really motivating sir, thank u so much for that endeavour…..

S A

Thank you. Much needed! Is there a solution for the test series on hold will write great answers kind?

Neyawn

Yes. Start writing today itself. Don’t wait for anything.

@bhishek

We all save your articles in PDF,even though I didn’t clear IAS Prelims this year, I could relate to many things you wrote here.For last 2 mains I ,like many others also had to deal with plethora of other exams like IFoS,CAPF (PET esp)UPPCS,SSC,RBI,NABARD etc (and these take away 25-30 days if you go till interview round…plus extra stress and diversion from UPSC prep ) so that we atleast have something after this ordeal of 2-3 years in Delhi. I had hard time dealing with that and thus would want you to put some of your thought on this-Balancing Act …I guess many want the answers to this(RBI,NABARD,SSC are very much )Please reply.

Neyawn

I am not sure how I can help here. Because most of the people I know who have cracked CPF, did not dedicatedly prepare for it. So they are often of little help when it comes to asking them to pen down their preparation strategy. Let me see what I can do, but will not be able to commit to a date.

Vats Ujjwal

Thanks forumias for this much needed enlightenment..I thought I was the only one facing this dilemma in my mains preparation!

sahil

Unless it is your third mains…hahaha..

Neyawn

Yes, guys writing third Mains usually have optionals done back and forth . That’s the good news .

The bad news is their notes are 3 years old and won’t fetch meals anymore.